Upcoming
Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh - 2nd July 2017 - Event Website
Owler Triathlon - English National Middle Distance Championships - 23rd July 2017 - Event Website
Past
Challenge Herning - ETU Middle Distance Championships - 10th June 2017
Where to start…
I only went and won the bronze!
And because of that, I should really start in earnest with a few thanks:
This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind. This is the race that I have been aiming all of my training towards for the last 6 months, and was without doubt my 'A race for the year. It wasn’t quite a case of all of my eggs being in this basket, but it was pretty close.
The first couple of days in Herning were pretty quiet - the place, surprisingly, lacked some of the atmosphere that I’ve normally found at Ironman / Challenge events. The organisers had done their best to foster it, with a 5k fun run and concert on the Thursday evening, but the weather didn’t really play ball. It chucked it down for most of Thursday and Friday.
Although I found it all a bit flat, I think that helped to keep me relaxed - I wasn’t getting over-hyped, and the adrenaline wasn’t firing too much. I just had a relaxing couple of days, managing to recce at least part of each of the swim, bike and run courses - probably for the first time ever at a race.
Race morning arrived, and with things not kicking off until 10am, there was plenty of time to get up, have breakfast and make my way to T1 and the start line. It was at this point that the excitement started to ratchet up a bit. The sun came out, there was a real buzz around transition - helped by a live band playing - and loads of spectators down to watch. I had everything sorted with close to an hour to go until my start time, so took the time soak it all in.
The start was ultra-efficient, with the waves being lined up in pre-start ‘pens’ then allowed in to the water as soon as the previous wave had set off. The males pros were the first to go, at 10am on the nose, with the other waves following at 5 minute intervals. It did feel like a long time waiting for the deep water start, but I tried to keep myself positioned where I wanted to be - close to the middle, but a couple of rows back, hoping to catch some decent feet, rather than being swum over!
Eventually we were let loose, and I swam hard for the first few seconds to get up to speed. I was expecting there to be a bit of carnage, especially with it being a Championship race, but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I did cop a kick to the face fairly early on, which knocked me a bit, and sent my heart rate and breathing through the roof, but I focused on calming myself back down and getting in to a rhythm, which ended up getting disrupted slightly as I got sandwiched between two guys, so missed a couple of strokes.
Everything had well and truly settled down by the time we made it round the first buoy though, which was only a couple of hundred metres from the start, and wasn’t too much of a washing machine. The rest of the swim was pretty plain sailing. I managed to keep on course really well (which is unusual for me!), and kept both my stroke rate and speed consistent throughout. In the final stretch, as I was sighting I couldn’t really see many blue caps in front of me - I wasn’t sure if that meant I wasn’t too far off the front, or if I was miles down. In reality, I think it was that I was close to the front of the second main pack, as I exited the water very happy with a 70.3 PB of 31.22 (official time - my watch had 31.19)
T1 was probably the sloppiest part of my race. I picked up my bag from the racking without any issues and made my way in to the changing tent and emptied it on the floor to get to everything easier. The wetsuit came off easy enough, but I could have done it a tad more efficiently.
I’m yet to master mounting my bike with my shoes already attached to the pedals, so I leave my shoes in the bag, and I also put socks on for the bike, as I figure I’m going to need them for the run anyway, so may as well get them on for extra comfort on the bike as well. I reached for my socks, and realised that I hadn’t properly prepared them…they were still folded together, and were inside out, so I spent a good amount of time getting them the right way around and working out which feet they needed to go on - they are specific L/R ones, I’m not that OCD!
On went the shoes and helmet, and out from the tent I went. It was quite a long run from the tent to my bike, to bike exit, and it was across mixed, but carpeted surface. The carpet was nice, but it masked what was underneath, so I took it very steady, as it was pretty slippy when it was concrete, and I was worried about catching my cleats when it was grass. I made it, however, to the mount line with no dramas, but I could definitely shave a hefty amount of time from T1 if I learn some of those additional skills.
Out on to the bike, I was keen to start strong again. They were running a 20m draft zone at this race, and from the pre-race briefing it sounded like they were going to be policing it fairly officiously. I didn’t want to get caught out, so tried to make my way past as many people as quickly as possible, without burning too many matches. For the first 5 or 6 minutes or so I averaged 290W, which is much higher than I wanted to be averaging over the whole course, but I didn't think it would cost me too much.
Eventually I settled in to a good rhythm at the 250-270W range that I wanted to be spending most of my time in, but I found that I ended up in a bit of a ‘pack’, as a couple of the locals didn’t quite seem to understand the no-drafting rule… I would make my way past them, only for them to sit on my wheel and pass me again soon after. There was even a phase when a few people were overtaking, and they were literally jumping on to the wheels of riders as they went past.
I got fed up of having to put in the big efforts to overtake them, so decided that I wasn’t going to lose much by just backing off a small amount and sticking to my 20m until the time was right to really go for it. That moment came at about 35-40 miles in, when I could see that the guy I was behind was struggling to hold the wheel of the new guy that he’d started drafting, so I knew I could make it stick. I put in a burst, made my way past and then dropped both of them.
I think that the little spell I had backing off the power slightly really helped in the long run - I felt really fresh in the final part of the bike, and was actually having to rein myself in a bit. I rode solo for most of it, but picked off maybe 10 or so other riders, heading straight past them every time. I was hoping to duck under 2:20, but just missed out, with an official 2:21:57 (I didn’t hit the lap button on my watch until I was in part way through T2)
T2 showed my slight lack of technical skills again, as I had to come to a complete stop before unclipping, handing my bike to the waiting volunteer, then making my way to the bag rack like Bambi on ice. I made a slight mistake of heading to the wrong rack to start with, but I quickly realised, and it didn’t cost me too much time. The rest of the transition was pretty straightforward, and I was quickly out on to the run course.
Again, I wanted to hit the first part hard, helped by a slight downhill over the first few hundred metres. The run was a four lap course, with a long, straight out and back, that I thought would make it easy to work out where I was, and keep tabs on who was ahead of me, followed by a technical final section with some tight turns and short but steep inclines.
After a fast first mile or so, I settled down in to a good rhythm, focussing on keeping my form perfect and turnover high. I must admit, there were more people already on the run than I had imagined there would have been, given how many I had made my way through on the bike, and how few others I had seen. But, I knew that I would be one of the strongest runners in the field, and I was quickly passing people.
I had asked Aleiah to give me timing updates on the run, so that I knew how hard to push. As I got to the end of the first lap, I spotted her and got a call that I was in 7th in my AG, 3 minutes behind 6th, but 3 minutes ahead of 8th. She was before the timing mat though, so I knew that those times were from at least 3km previously. I just put my head down and kept pushing.
On the second lap, I quickly realised that it was going to be impossible to keep tabs on where I was relative to those I was competing with on the out and back - there were too many people on the course, and trying to spot the wristbands was proving too taxing at the effort I was having to put in. So, I relied on the updates from Aleiah. At the end of lap two the update was that I was now only 90 seconds behind. Game on.
The third lap, more of the same, but by the time I reached the final, technical section, my legs were really starting to feel the exertions of the day and I was struggling to hold my pace on that one part. Thankfully on the flat, straight sections I was able to pick it back up, and the next update I got from Aleiah was that I was up to fifth, which my dad quickly updated again as the timing had just refreshed that I was actually in fourth!
That was it; it was going to be all or nothing on this final lap. I dug in as best as I could and kept pushing right to the end. This time going through the town centre was absolute torture, especially as I was suffering some rather unfortunate chafing, but I turned the penultimate bend, where it flattened out, and gave one final burst. Just as I reached the final bend, I spotted my dad dangling out a Union Flag for me to take, but it was too late; I was already past him.
I made my way down the finishing chute, trying to soak up the atmosphere, and I could vaguely hear the announcer calling me in, but I was right on the limit by this point, so was focussing just on getting across the line. I had nothing left in the tank by the time I did cross the line, and collapsed to my knees straight away.
One of the volunteers tried helping me to the side, so that I was out of the way of other competitors coming in, but that sent a bout of cramp shooting straight down the back of my right leg. Some of the volunteers helped stretch it out, while others brought me some water. While I was sitting on the floor, I could hear Aleiah calling me - I turned around and managed to find her amongst the crowds, and she told me that I had managed it - I had overhauled third place on the final lap, and had secured my place on the podium.
I’d managed to put in a 1:19:05 for the run, which was probably slightly short (the median distance from what I’ve seen on Strava seems to be 12.9 miles), but it was the 2nd fastest AG split of the day, and 10th fastest including the pros.
Post race involved lots of food - including an amazing burger from The Burger Shack - and even more beer (and terrible dancing!) at the team after party in The Fox and Hounds, and an absolutely savage hangover the following day. Well worth it though.
Next up is Edinburgh 70.3, with 3 weeks to re-prepare myself. We’ll see what that race brings.
Where to start…
I only went and won the bronze!
And because of that, I should really start in earnest with a few thanks:
- to my coach, Steve Mott of Streamline Coaching, for giving me the structure and guidance that I definitely needed;
- to all of the coaches and members of Tri2o, for spurring me on, and helping to improve some of the many flaws in my swim stroke;
- to my work for the flexibility that they allow me to fit my training in; and
- Last, but by no means least, my friends and family for their constant and unwavering support, encouragement, and understanding (particularly when I get hangry!)
This weekend has been an absolute whirlwind. This is the race that I have been aiming all of my training towards for the last 6 months, and was without doubt my 'A race for the year. It wasn’t quite a case of all of my eggs being in this basket, but it was pretty close.
The first couple of days in Herning were pretty quiet - the place, surprisingly, lacked some of the atmosphere that I’ve normally found at Ironman / Challenge events. The organisers had done their best to foster it, with a 5k fun run and concert on the Thursday evening, but the weather didn’t really play ball. It chucked it down for most of Thursday and Friday.
Although I found it all a bit flat, I think that helped to keep me relaxed - I wasn’t getting over-hyped, and the adrenaline wasn’t firing too much. I just had a relaxing couple of days, managing to recce at least part of each of the swim, bike and run courses - probably for the first time ever at a race.
Race morning arrived, and with things not kicking off until 10am, there was plenty of time to get up, have breakfast and make my way to T1 and the start line. It was at this point that the excitement started to ratchet up a bit. The sun came out, there was a real buzz around transition - helped by a live band playing - and loads of spectators down to watch. I had everything sorted with close to an hour to go until my start time, so took the time soak it all in.
The start was ultra-efficient, with the waves being lined up in pre-start ‘pens’ then allowed in to the water as soon as the previous wave had set off. The males pros were the first to go, at 10am on the nose, with the other waves following at 5 minute intervals. It did feel like a long time waiting for the deep water start, but I tried to keep myself positioned where I wanted to be - close to the middle, but a couple of rows back, hoping to catch some decent feet, rather than being swum over!
Eventually we were let loose, and I swam hard for the first few seconds to get up to speed. I was expecting there to be a bit of carnage, especially with it being a Championship race, but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I did cop a kick to the face fairly early on, which knocked me a bit, and sent my heart rate and breathing through the roof, but I focused on calming myself back down and getting in to a rhythm, which ended up getting disrupted slightly as I got sandwiched between two guys, so missed a couple of strokes.
Everything had well and truly settled down by the time we made it round the first buoy though, which was only a couple of hundred metres from the start, and wasn’t too much of a washing machine. The rest of the swim was pretty plain sailing. I managed to keep on course really well (which is unusual for me!), and kept both my stroke rate and speed consistent throughout. In the final stretch, as I was sighting I couldn’t really see many blue caps in front of me - I wasn’t sure if that meant I wasn’t too far off the front, or if I was miles down. In reality, I think it was that I was close to the front of the second main pack, as I exited the water very happy with a 70.3 PB of 31.22 (official time - my watch had 31.19)
T1 was probably the sloppiest part of my race. I picked up my bag from the racking without any issues and made my way in to the changing tent and emptied it on the floor to get to everything easier. The wetsuit came off easy enough, but I could have done it a tad more efficiently.
I’m yet to master mounting my bike with my shoes already attached to the pedals, so I leave my shoes in the bag, and I also put socks on for the bike, as I figure I’m going to need them for the run anyway, so may as well get them on for extra comfort on the bike as well. I reached for my socks, and realised that I hadn’t properly prepared them…they were still folded together, and were inside out, so I spent a good amount of time getting them the right way around and working out which feet they needed to go on - they are specific L/R ones, I’m not that OCD!
On went the shoes and helmet, and out from the tent I went. It was quite a long run from the tent to my bike, to bike exit, and it was across mixed, but carpeted surface. The carpet was nice, but it masked what was underneath, so I took it very steady, as it was pretty slippy when it was concrete, and I was worried about catching my cleats when it was grass. I made it, however, to the mount line with no dramas, but I could definitely shave a hefty amount of time from T1 if I learn some of those additional skills.
Out on to the bike, I was keen to start strong again. They were running a 20m draft zone at this race, and from the pre-race briefing it sounded like they were going to be policing it fairly officiously. I didn’t want to get caught out, so tried to make my way past as many people as quickly as possible, without burning too many matches. For the first 5 or 6 minutes or so I averaged 290W, which is much higher than I wanted to be averaging over the whole course, but I didn't think it would cost me too much.
Eventually I settled in to a good rhythm at the 250-270W range that I wanted to be spending most of my time in, but I found that I ended up in a bit of a ‘pack’, as a couple of the locals didn’t quite seem to understand the no-drafting rule… I would make my way past them, only for them to sit on my wheel and pass me again soon after. There was even a phase when a few people were overtaking, and they were literally jumping on to the wheels of riders as they went past.
I got fed up of having to put in the big efforts to overtake them, so decided that I wasn’t going to lose much by just backing off a small amount and sticking to my 20m until the time was right to really go for it. That moment came at about 35-40 miles in, when I could see that the guy I was behind was struggling to hold the wheel of the new guy that he’d started drafting, so I knew I could make it stick. I put in a burst, made my way past and then dropped both of them.
I think that the little spell I had backing off the power slightly really helped in the long run - I felt really fresh in the final part of the bike, and was actually having to rein myself in a bit. I rode solo for most of it, but picked off maybe 10 or so other riders, heading straight past them every time. I was hoping to duck under 2:20, but just missed out, with an official 2:21:57 (I didn’t hit the lap button on my watch until I was in part way through T2)
T2 showed my slight lack of technical skills again, as I had to come to a complete stop before unclipping, handing my bike to the waiting volunteer, then making my way to the bag rack like Bambi on ice. I made a slight mistake of heading to the wrong rack to start with, but I quickly realised, and it didn’t cost me too much time. The rest of the transition was pretty straightforward, and I was quickly out on to the run course.
Again, I wanted to hit the first part hard, helped by a slight downhill over the first few hundred metres. The run was a four lap course, with a long, straight out and back, that I thought would make it easy to work out where I was, and keep tabs on who was ahead of me, followed by a technical final section with some tight turns and short but steep inclines.
After a fast first mile or so, I settled down in to a good rhythm, focussing on keeping my form perfect and turnover high. I must admit, there were more people already on the run than I had imagined there would have been, given how many I had made my way through on the bike, and how few others I had seen. But, I knew that I would be one of the strongest runners in the field, and I was quickly passing people.
I had asked Aleiah to give me timing updates on the run, so that I knew how hard to push. As I got to the end of the first lap, I spotted her and got a call that I was in 7th in my AG, 3 minutes behind 6th, but 3 minutes ahead of 8th. She was before the timing mat though, so I knew that those times were from at least 3km previously. I just put my head down and kept pushing.
On the second lap, I quickly realised that it was going to be impossible to keep tabs on where I was relative to those I was competing with on the out and back - there were too many people on the course, and trying to spot the wristbands was proving too taxing at the effort I was having to put in. So, I relied on the updates from Aleiah. At the end of lap two the update was that I was now only 90 seconds behind. Game on.
The third lap, more of the same, but by the time I reached the final, technical section, my legs were really starting to feel the exertions of the day and I was struggling to hold my pace on that one part. Thankfully on the flat, straight sections I was able to pick it back up, and the next update I got from Aleiah was that I was up to fifth, which my dad quickly updated again as the timing had just refreshed that I was actually in fourth!
That was it; it was going to be all or nothing on this final lap. I dug in as best as I could and kept pushing right to the end. This time going through the town centre was absolute torture, especially as I was suffering some rather unfortunate chafing, but I turned the penultimate bend, where it flattened out, and gave one final burst. Just as I reached the final bend, I spotted my dad dangling out a Union Flag for me to take, but it was too late; I was already past him.
I made my way down the finishing chute, trying to soak up the atmosphere, and I could vaguely hear the announcer calling me in, but I was right on the limit by this point, so was focussing just on getting across the line. I had nothing left in the tank by the time I did cross the line, and collapsed to my knees straight away.
One of the volunteers tried helping me to the side, so that I was out of the way of other competitors coming in, but that sent a bout of cramp shooting straight down the back of my right leg. Some of the volunteers helped stretch it out, while others brought me some water. While I was sitting on the floor, I could hear Aleiah calling me - I turned around and managed to find her amongst the crowds, and she told me that I had managed it - I had overhauled third place on the final lap, and had secured my place on the podium.
I’d managed to put in a 1:19:05 for the run, which was probably slightly short (the median distance from what I’ve seen on Strava seems to be 12.9 miles), but it was the 2nd fastest AG split of the day, and 10th fastest including the pros.
Post race involved lots of food - including an amazing burger from The Burger Shack - and even more beer (and terrible dancing!) at the team after party in The Fox and Hounds, and an absolutely savage hangover the following day. Well worth it though.
Next up is Edinburgh 70.3, with 3 weeks to re-prepare myself. We’ll see what that race brings.
The Beale Beastie - 7th May 2017
My first tri of the year, and since taking on a coach (Steve Mott from Streamline Coaching), this was to be part test as to how the winter's training has gone, but also an opportunity to practice hooking all three disciplines together 5 weeks out from my 'A' race (the ETU Middle Distance Championships at Challenge Herning).
I was feeling well rested, after an easy-ish week and an early night, but was still experiencing the usual pre-race nerves and lack of confidence - especially in how I would run, as I've been struggling to shift a niggling ankle injury for the last few weeks. I arrived at the venue (the lovely Beale Park) in plenty of time, and after parking up in the well-marshalled carpark, made my way to registration (which was a breeze for me, though a substantial queue did establish shortly afterwards) and set about making sure I hadn't completely forgotten how to set up in transition!
A succinct, but useful, race briefing - including dealing with a last minute hiccup of temporary traffic lights on the bike course - made sure that everyone knew what was going on (this was a race that had attracted a number of first-timers, so definitely beneficial), and then it was on to the swim start, where we were split in to three waves, 10 minutes apart, graded (I think) by predicted swim time.
My swim has improved massively over the last 6 months, so I made my way to the across in the first wave to the top of the steps where we were to enter the lake for a 400m, inverted V course. The water was only 13-14 degrees, so I didn't want to get in too early and find myself getting overly cold, so I held back and made sure I was one of the final competitors to take the plunge. We must have been running slightly behind time, because having entered the water, there was literally a 5 second gap before I heard the call that we were setting off... Luckily, in that 5 seconds, I had managed to get a few fast stroked in to take the edge off and get my heart rate slightly up, but I did find myself about 5 metres behind the front line of swimmers.
The swim was pretty uneventful, with only a little bit of body contact, and before I knew it we were at the sole buoy (which, miraculously, didn't seem to be too much of a washing machine) and making our way back towards the swim exit and T2. I was trying to focus on my technique, and all the things that I've been working on with the coaches at Tri2o - keeping my head low in the water, fingers below wrist below elbow, and really completing my stroke - and this seemed to pay off. As I entered the water and made my way in to T1, I looked to my left and saw Lou Gubb, also of Tri2o, and a much stronger swimmer than I. I made a comment along the lines of "bloody hell, what am I doing coming out the swim with you!" and made my way to my bike. T1 wasn't particularly fast (it doesn't need to be at 70.3!) but I didn't lose too much time.
As I exited T1 and approached the bike mount line, I could hear some rattling from my bike. I looked down, and saw that my QR skewer had come loose, and it was my front wheel that was knocking around. A quick stop to tighten that up had me slightly flustered, and I almost mounted before the line - schoolboy error! Luckily this whole episode didn't cost me too much time, and I set off trying to make up as much ground as I could on the bike.
I knew that my biking has been strong recently, having set a new FTP of 304W a few weeks ago, and I also knew that the first part of the course would suit me well, with a fairly long and tricky climb. I was going to aim to hold my FTP for the duration of the bike, so set out hard. I passed a few people on the flat, quiet lane - I knew this would be important, as the roads on the start of the climb are narrow, and have a lot of gravel in the middle, so I didn't want to be having to cross that to overtake too much. By the time we reached the top of this first climb, I had made my way to the front of the race (I thought), having hit my target power the whole way. Next same a short, flattish section, before a long downhill before the second climb.
As I made my way along the flat section, I was passed by Morgan Jones from Banjo Cycles. I knew that I'd have a stronger run than him, so decided to just sit in at 12 metres for a bit and pace off of him. As we made our way down the descent, I could tell that we had built up a substantial lead on those behind, so despite feeling that I could have been pushing much harder (in this section I was only averaging 240W) I decided to stick with it, because of my stronger run.
Having cruised the second half of the bike course, we arrived back towards T2, back along the same lane that we came out of to start, and I put in a bit of a burst, just to get a bit of a gap, and get the heart rate back up - I wanted to hit the run hard, just to make sure I wasn't going to have any trouble. So, back in to T2 in 1st (I thought).
I had a terrible T2. I didn't realise whilst I was on the bike, but my hands and feet were both like blocks of ice. I struggled to get my helmet off, and struggled to get my shoes on. Morgan made it out on to the run ahead of me by about 10 seconds, but I quickly caught and passed him; remembering what i've heard lots of pro athletes say - when you're overtaking someone; keep on the gas all the way. I didn't think Morgan would be a strong runner, but didn't want to leave it to chance.
I settled in to what felt like a relatively comfortable pace, making sure to keep an eye on my footing - most of the run is on grass, with molehills and various bits of uneven tufts to dodge. A large part of the run is along the river thames, which is really nice, though I wasn't particularly looking around - I was just focussed on making sure I built an unassailable gap behind me. There were plenty of marshalls out on the course, and I asked a few what my gap was, but just got a slightly quizzical look from most of them. I was pretty confident that the gap was significant, which was confirmed when I hit a bit of a turnaround at the halfway point. From then on, I just cruised in, making sure that I didn't do anything to upset my ankle.
I crossed the finish line, happy to think that I was taking my first ever podium in a tri, and first win in any athletic event. But as I picked up my bottle of water and medal, I spotted that there was a young lad, Jack Shayler, stood there with his own medal on. I hadn't been in first at all; I was in second! What is even more heartbreaking is that all of his time gap (a bit over a minute) came in the swim and transitions. If I'd carried on pushing on the bike and run like I could have done, I likely could have caught him (even without pushing I had the fastest bike and run splits of the day). Lesson learned - I will not be making that mistake again! Even if I think a race is done and dusted, I will keep pushing until the very end!
All in all, the inaugural Beale Beastie was a cracking event. The course is fantastic, and it was very well organised. I will definitely be back next year; hoping to take that next step on the podium.
My first tri of the year, and since taking on a coach (Steve Mott from Streamline Coaching), this was to be part test as to how the winter's training has gone, but also an opportunity to practice hooking all three disciplines together 5 weeks out from my 'A' race (the ETU Middle Distance Championships at Challenge Herning).
I was feeling well rested, after an easy-ish week and an early night, but was still experiencing the usual pre-race nerves and lack of confidence - especially in how I would run, as I've been struggling to shift a niggling ankle injury for the last few weeks. I arrived at the venue (the lovely Beale Park) in plenty of time, and after parking up in the well-marshalled carpark, made my way to registration (which was a breeze for me, though a substantial queue did establish shortly afterwards) and set about making sure I hadn't completely forgotten how to set up in transition!
A succinct, but useful, race briefing - including dealing with a last minute hiccup of temporary traffic lights on the bike course - made sure that everyone knew what was going on (this was a race that had attracted a number of first-timers, so definitely beneficial), and then it was on to the swim start, where we were split in to three waves, 10 minutes apart, graded (I think) by predicted swim time.
My swim has improved massively over the last 6 months, so I made my way to the across in the first wave to the top of the steps where we were to enter the lake for a 400m, inverted V course. The water was only 13-14 degrees, so I didn't want to get in too early and find myself getting overly cold, so I held back and made sure I was one of the final competitors to take the plunge. We must have been running slightly behind time, because having entered the water, there was literally a 5 second gap before I heard the call that we were setting off... Luckily, in that 5 seconds, I had managed to get a few fast stroked in to take the edge off and get my heart rate slightly up, but I did find myself about 5 metres behind the front line of swimmers.
The swim was pretty uneventful, with only a little bit of body contact, and before I knew it we were at the sole buoy (which, miraculously, didn't seem to be too much of a washing machine) and making our way back towards the swim exit and T2. I was trying to focus on my technique, and all the things that I've been working on with the coaches at Tri2o - keeping my head low in the water, fingers below wrist below elbow, and really completing my stroke - and this seemed to pay off. As I entered the water and made my way in to T1, I looked to my left and saw Lou Gubb, also of Tri2o, and a much stronger swimmer than I. I made a comment along the lines of "bloody hell, what am I doing coming out the swim with you!" and made my way to my bike. T1 wasn't particularly fast (it doesn't need to be at 70.3!) but I didn't lose too much time.
As I exited T1 and approached the bike mount line, I could hear some rattling from my bike. I looked down, and saw that my QR skewer had come loose, and it was my front wheel that was knocking around. A quick stop to tighten that up had me slightly flustered, and I almost mounted before the line - schoolboy error! Luckily this whole episode didn't cost me too much time, and I set off trying to make up as much ground as I could on the bike.
I knew that my biking has been strong recently, having set a new FTP of 304W a few weeks ago, and I also knew that the first part of the course would suit me well, with a fairly long and tricky climb. I was going to aim to hold my FTP for the duration of the bike, so set out hard. I passed a few people on the flat, quiet lane - I knew this would be important, as the roads on the start of the climb are narrow, and have a lot of gravel in the middle, so I didn't want to be having to cross that to overtake too much. By the time we reached the top of this first climb, I had made my way to the front of the race (I thought), having hit my target power the whole way. Next same a short, flattish section, before a long downhill before the second climb.
As I made my way along the flat section, I was passed by Morgan Jones from Banjo Cycles. I knew that I'd have a stronger run than him, so decided to just sit in at 12 metres for a bit and pace off of him. As we made our way down the descent, I could tell that we had built up a substantial lead on those behind, so despite feeling that I could have been pushing much harder (in this section I was only averaging 240W) I decided to stick with it, because of my stronger run.
Having cruised the second half of the bike course, we arrived back towards T2, back along the same lane that we came out of to start, and I put in a bit of a burst, just to get a bit of a gap, and get the heart rate back up - I wanted to hit the run hard, just to make sure I wasn't going to have any trouble. So, back in to T2 in 1st (I thought).
I had a terrible T2. I didn't realise whilst I was on the bike, but my hands and feet were both like blocks of ice. I struggled to get my helmet off, and struggled to get my shoes on. Morgan made it out on to the run ahead of me by about 10 seconds, but I quickly caught and passed him; remembering what i've heard lots of pro athletes say - when you're overtaking someone; keep on the gas all the way. I didn't think Morgan would be a strong runner, but didn't want to leave it to chance.
I settled in to what felt like a relatively comfortable pace, making sure to keep an eye on my footing - most of the run is on grass, with molehills and various bits of uneven tufts to dodge. A large part of the run is along the river thames, which is really nice, though I wasn't particularly looking around - I was just focussed on making sure I built an unassailable gap behind me. There were plenty of marshalls out on the course, and I asked a few what my gap was, but just got a slightly quizzical look from most of them. I was pretty confident that the gap was significant, which was confirmed when I hit a bit of a turnaround at the halfway point. From then on, I just cruised in, making sure that I didn't do anything to upset my ankle.
I crossed the finish line, happy to think that I was taking my first ever podium in a tri, and first win in any athletic event. But as I picked up my bottle of water and medal, I spotted that there was a young lad, Jack Shayler, stood there with his own medal on. I hadn't been in first at all; I was in second! What is even more heartbreaking is that all of his time gap (a bit over a minute) came in the swim and transitions. If I'd carried on pushing on the bike and run like I could have done, I likely could have caught him (even without pushing I had the fastest bike and run splits of the day). Lesson learned - I will not be making that mistake again! Even if I think a race is done and dusted, I will keep pushing until the very end!
All in all, the inaugural Beale Beastie was a cracking event. The course is fantastic, and it was very well organised. I will definitely be back next year; hoping to take that next step on the podium.
Royal Parks Half Marathon - 9th October 2016
Richmond Running Festival - Half Marathon - 18th September 2016
Ironman 70.3 Vichy - 28th August 2016
Race to the Stones - 16th July 2016
Dragon Ride - Medio Fondo - 5th June 2016
This wasn't an event I had intended on entering. It had crossed my mind, when a few of the guys from my tri club posted in our Facebook group that they weren't going to be making use of their entries, but I decided against it; thinking that it was too far a trek to be bothered with, when it would have meant going there and back on the one day.
Things changed, however, when I had lunch with one of my good friends (and whom can probably take a huge amount of credit for getting me involved in triathlon/endurance sport full stop) on Friday - I.e. 2 days before the event itself. As we were tucking in to our feast at Bluegrass Reading (which is top class, btw), he dropped in to conversation that he'd picked up a late entry, which piqued my interest again.
Once that seed was planted, there was no stopping it; it grew faster than bamboo planted in a particularly potent bag of MiracleGrow. Before I knew it, I had contacted the guys from the tri club, managed to bag one of their entries, and was setting about prepping my roadie (which was in desperate need of some TLC) to get me through the longest ride it would ever have attempted (with all of my longer rides/Ironman completed on my TT last year).
The day of the event called for an early start, with Jumbo (the aforementioned friend), Andrew (one of Jumbo's mates from his tri club) and I - or Julian, Michelle and Nick, as we were to be known on the day - met at 6am to make the straightforward, but bloody long, journey down the M4.
We arrived with no dramas, and immediately I was struck by two major points:
1. The stunning beauty of the countryside surrounding Margam park (looking north, rather than south/west towards the steel plant!
2. How well organised everything was; no queuing to get in to the car park, and no issues at all in getting parked up.
We sorted ourselves out, and made our way down to the start area. Again, the organisation couldn't be faulted, with people guided in to one of four different start pens, which were let loose in revolving order are regular, frequent intervals. This worked really well, especially as it isn't a closed road event, so safety (and not pissing off the locals too much!) was really important.
In the 10 minutes or so that we spent in the start pen, I knew that we were in for a scorcher. The sun was breaking through the clouds, the temperature was creeping up, and I was getting a sweat on before making a single pedal stroke.
Before we knew it, we were out on the roads. The first part of the course is nice and easy, if not particularly interesting - though seeing the steel plant at Port Talbot, having heard so much about it in the news of late, was something of a 'monument'. The dual carriage way meant that there was enough room both for the volume of cyclists still bunched together, and passing traffic.
Things very quickly became much more interesting as we turned north and started heading in to the valleys, with some very impressive bridges/viaducts catching the eye in particular. Equally quickly, the road started kicking up in places, though this often felt like a bit of a false dawn, particularly as Jumbo kept announcing that we were 'just starting the first climb', only for the road to flatten out again pretty much straight away.
Once we did pass the sign announcing that we were on the first climb proper, it was unmistakeable. Not massively steep (averaging 5%, I think), but pretty long. I started the lower parts pretty hard, but quickly decided not to peak too soon, especially seeing as I hadn't particularly trained for this, and hadn't ridden that long since my IM in August last year. So, I stuck it in the easiest gear, found my rhythm and cruised to the top, where the views were just stunning. The only time I can recall having had such an awe struck reaction to a vista on the bike was at Mallorca 70.3 last year, on the climb up to Lluc.
We stopped briefly at the summit, as my chain had been rubbing on the front derailleur, and I wanted to sort that out sooner rather than later. Once that was sorted, we made our way on to the first descent. Descending has never really been a forté of mine, and I was worried about losing the wheel of Jumbo / Andrew, and having to do a solo TT to catch them back up - as I did at Velothon Wales last year, which didn't do me any good at all! I needn't have worried, though, as I managed to stay in pretty close contact with them throughout; helped, no doubt, by the extra traffic on the roads slowing them down a bit.
No sooner were we at the bottom, the second climb started, which was pretty similar to the first in terms of length/gradient, so it was another case of easy gear spin up to the top. Where this climb was a bit harder, was that it was a lot more sheltered from the minimal breeze that there was, and it became incredibly hot - who'd have thought you could ever say that about Wales!
The second descent was probably the most fun part of the day, mostly because it was the fastest. There were a few fast, sweeping corners to start, then some longer, straighter sections, where you could really build up some speed. It was at this point that I regretted having a compact chainset, with 50/34 on the front. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't go any faster...I was spinning my legs at 130rpm+, but still wasn't able to get any torque. Still a lot of fun, nonetheless!
At the bottom of this descent was the first feed station, which was pretty busy - unsurprisingly, given the heat. Even so, the organisation was once again top notch, with several volunteers making sure that everyone was fed and watered as quickly as possible. The range of food was brilliant, with the salted potatoes being a particular revelation, and after a quick refuel, we were back on our way.
The next section was, for me, the hardest part of the day. It is a gently undulating, but steadily climbing, section, that feels a lot more exposed - despite the fact that there was minimal breeze that day. I think, with hindsight, that a lot of the struggle was mental, as I didn't realise at the time just how much we were climbing - it just felt like I wasn't able to push as big a gear as thought I should have been, and my blood sugar started to feel a bit low (despite just having stopped at the feed station). I polished off a gel and a bar, sat on the back of our mini-pack (occassionally struggling to keep the wheel), and by the time we reached the next section of descent, I was feeling much more human.
The next challenge to conquer was the steepest climb of the day, and the only one that was officially timed, the Devil's Elbow. This is much shorter than the first two climbs, but a hell of a lot steeper - I believe averaging at c.12%, and topping out at about 20%! This was a real slog. I haven't done any climbs like this in quite a while, so my hip flexors in particular were screaming from about halfway. This wasn't a climb that I could just sit and spin through, so I alternated between being in and out of the saddle, and managed to keep some decent momentum going. I did become too much for a number of other competitors though, with many opting to stop and walk their bikes up.
The rest of the route was pretty straight forward, with a couple of additional minor climbs, plenty of pleasant scenery, and one more fantastic feed station.
The final stretch back along the dual carriageway was a bit tough, as we were heading back up the false flat, with a slight headwind, but before we knew it, we were back in to Margam Park, and heading round the final couple of bends before crossing the finish line, where there were cartons of coconut water and, more importantly, pints of Erdinger Alkoholfrei waiting for us, along with the 'yellow jersey' medal.
All that was left to do was head back down the M4, feeling very pleased with myself, and ordering a massive curry from JustEat while stuck in traffic, so that it arrived just after I got home.
All in all, a brilliant day.
This wasn't an event I had intended on entering. It had crossed my mind, when a few of the guys from my tri club posted in our Facebook group that they weren't going to be making use of their entries, but I decided against it; thinking that it was too far a trek to be bothered with, when it would have meant going there and back on the one day.
Things changed, however, when I had lunch with one of my good friends (and whom can probably take a huge amount of credit for getting me involved in triathlon/endurance sport full stop) on Friday - I.e. 2 days before the event itself. As we were tucking in to our feast at Bluegrass Reading (which is top class, btw), he dropped in to conversation that he'd picked up a late entry, which piqued my interest again.
Once that seed was planted, there was no stopping it; it grew faster than bamboo planted in a particularly potent bag of MiracleGrow. Before I knew it, I had contacted the guys from the tri club, managed to bag one of their entries, and was setting about prepping my roadie (which was in desperate need of some TLC) to get me through the longest ride it would ever have attempted (with all of my longer rides/Ironman completed on my TT last year).
The day of the event called for an early start, with Jumbo (the aforementioned friend), Andrew (one of Jumbo's mates from his tri club) and I - or Julian, Michelle and Nick, as we were to be known on the day - met at 6am to make the straightforward, but bloody long, journey down the M4.
We arrived with no dramas, and immediately I was struck by two major points:
1. The stunning beauty of the countryside surrounding Margam park (looking north, rather than south/west towards the steel plant!
2. How well organised everything was; no queuing to get in to the car park, and no issues at all in getting parked up.
We sorted ourselves out, and made our way down to the start area. Again, the organisation couldn't be faulted, with people guided in to one of four different start pens, which were let loose in revolving order are regular, frequent intervals. This worked really well, especially as it isn't a closed road event, so safety (and not pissing off the locals too much!) was really important.
In the 10 minutes or so that we spent in the start pen, I knew that we were in for a scorcher. The sun was breaking through the clouds, the temperature was creeping up, and I was getting a sweat on before making a single pedal stroke.
Before we knew it, we were out on the roads. The first part of the course is nice and easy, if not particularly interesting - though seeing the steel plant at Port Talbot, having heard so much about it in the news of late, was something of a 'monument'. The dual carriage way meant that there was enough room both for the volume of cyclists still bunched together, and passing traffic.
Things very quickly became much more interesting as we turned north and started heading in to the valleys, with some very impressive bridges/viaducts catching the eye in particular. Equally quickly, the road started kicking up in places, though this often felt like a bit of a false dawn, particularly as Jumbo kept announcing that we were 'just starting the first climb', only for the road to flatten out again pretty much straight away.
Once we did pass the sign announcing that we were on the first climb proper, it was unmistakeable. Not massively steep (averaging 5%, I think), but pretty long. I started the lower parts pretty hard, but quickly decided not to peak too soon, especially seeing as I hadn't particularly trained for this, and hadn't ridden that long since my IM in August last year. So, I stuck it in the easiest gear, found my rhythm and cruised to the top, where the views were just stunning. The only time I can recall having had such an awe struck reaction to a vista on the bike was at Mallorca 70.3 last year, on the climb up to Lluc.
We stopped briefly at the summit, as my chain had been rubbing on the front derailleur, and I wanted to sort that out sooner rather than later. Once that was sorted, we made our way on to the first descent. Descending has never really been a forté of mine, and I was worried about losing the wheel of Jumbo / Andrew, and having to do a solo TT to catch them back up - as I did at Velothon Wales last year, which didn't do me any good at all! I needn't have worried, though, as I managed to stay in pretty close contact with them throughout; helped, no doubt, by the extra traffic on the roads slowing them down a bit.
No sooner were we at the bottom, the second climb started, which was pretty similar to the first in terms of length/gradient, so it was another case of easy gear spin up to the top. Where this climb was a bit harder, was that it was a lot more sheltered from the minimal breeze that there was, and it became incredibly hot - who'd have thought you could ever say that about Wales!
The second descent was probably the most fun part of the day, mostly because it was the fastest. There were a few fast, sweeping corners to start, then some longer, straighter sections, where you could really build up some speed. It was at this point that I regretted having a compact chainset, with 50/34 on the front. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't go any faster...I was spinning my legs at 130rpm+, but still wasn't able to get any torque. Still a lot of fun, nonetheless!
At the bottom of this descent was the first feed station, which was pretty busy - unsurprisingly, given the heat. Even so, the organisation was once again top notch, with several volunteers making sure that everyone was fed and watered as quickly as possible. The range of food was brilliant, with the salted potatoes being a particular revelation, and after a quick refuel, we were back on our way.
The next section was, for me, the hardest part of the day. It is a gently undulating, but steadily climbing, section, that feels a lot more exposed - despite the fact that there was minimal breeze that day. I think, with hindsight, that a lot of the struggle was mental, as I didn't realise at the time just how much we were climbing - it just felt like I wasn't able to push as big a gear as thought I should have been, and my blood sugar started to feel a bit low (despite just having stopped at the feed station). I polished off a gel and a bar, sat on the back of our mini-pack (occassionally struggling to keep the wheel), and by the time we reached the next section of descent, I was feeling much more human.
The next challenge to conquer was the steepest climb of the day, and the only one that was officially timed, the Devil's Elbow. This is much shorter than the first two climbs, but a hell of a lot steeper - I believe averaging at c.12%, and topping out at about 20%! This was a real slog. I haven't done any climbs like this in quite a while, so my hip flexors in particular were screaming from about halfway. This wasn't a climb that I could just sit and spin through, so I alternated between being in and out of the saddle, and managed to keep some decent momentum going. I did become too much for a number of other competitors though, with many opting to stop and walk their bikes up.
The rest of the route was pretty straight forward, with a couple of additional minor climbs, plenty of pleasant scenery, and one more fantastic feed station.
The final stretch back along the dual carriageway was a bit tough, as we were heading back up the false flat, with a slight headwind, but before we knew it, we were back in to Margam Park, and heading round the final couple of bends before crossing the finish line, where there were cartons of coconut water and, more importantly, pints of Erdinger Alkoholfrei waiting for us, along with the 'yellow jersey' medal.
All that was left to do was head back down the M4, feeling very pleased with myself, and ordering a massive curry from JustEat while stuck in traffic, so that it arrived just after I got home.
All in all, a brilliant day.
Grafman Triathlon - English Middle Distance Championships - 22nd May 2016
After a good early start to the year running-wise, this was my first tri of the year. I was feeling pretty race-confident after some great recent results (3rd at the Royal Berks 10k, and 10th at Brighton Marathon - which I still can't quite get over!), but had been feeling a couple of minor niggles in the few days leading up to this.
I woke up on race morning, however, feeling pretty good - probably a bit too good, as it made me a bit too relaxed as I was getting everything packed up, meaning that we didn't set off until 20 minutes later than I had initially intended. Nevermind, still plenty of time. Or so I thought.
We arrived at Grafham Water, which always brings a sense of nostalgia to me - it was often a venue for Sunday afternoon family rides in the summer when I was growing up - and found the organisation to be as good as I remember from last year's event. Having been shown to a parking space, I made a beeline for registration, thinking that there may have been a queue, and I didn't want that to hold me up. But no queue - I picked up my pack straight away, and everything was still feeling really relaxed.
Then it started to go a little bit awry.
I faffed about too much sorting my bike out, and somehow managed to misplace the sticker that needed to go on my helmet. Mild panic ensued, as we frantically searched every crevice within the car looking for the absent sticker. Every crevice apart from the boot, as I was insistent that I hadn't had the boot open. After 5 minutes of searching, Aleiah decided to look in the boot, just in case. Lo and behold, there it was. Cue me looking very sheepish, and taking plenty of stick!
En route to transition, I felt nature's calling, so I decided to head to the toilet before transition. There was a substantial queue for the portaloos, but having a bit of local knowledge, I thought I would outsmart everyone by heading to some permanent toilets tucked around the back of the cafe. Surely there wouldn't be a queue there... Wrong. After waiting there for a few minutes without moving, I decided to cut my losses and head back to the portaloos.
By the time I was done, I had under 10 minutes before transition closed. I just about managed to get everything sorted before the marshals started turfing everyone out, though in the rush I had forgotten to pick up a bottle that I intended to leave in transition, to swig in T1, then take with me out of T2 on to the run. This was to be my first major mistake.
By this point, everyone was being called down to the reservoir's edge for race briefing and start, but I realised as I was about to get in to my wetsuit that I had left my goggles in another bag in the car. A quick sprint there and back (my warm up??) and I just about had time to squeeze myself in to the wetsuit and get down to the start with about 2 minutes to spare. No opportunity to 'test the water', or get a proper warm up done. Balls.
A rolling start was employed for the swim, so I positioned myself towards the front of the 35-39 minute zone, hoping that some of the marginally faster swimmers might drag me to a better time. The first thing that really struck me, and kind of caught me off guard, was the lack of urgency of everyone entering the water - there was no sprinting and diving in, it was all a bit reminiscent of heading for a paddle on the beach, when you just want to get your feet/ankles wet.
Eventually we were in and swimming properly, and it was pretty grim, and bloody cold. Next to no visibility and 14 degrees. Just. My open water swimming so far has been at a much more pleasant 17/18 in relatively clear (but weedy) waters. I quickly got over the shock of the cold, and the horrid smell/taste of the water, and started trying to find my rhythm, which was easier said than done, as it was so busy. As a result, I found myself more concerned about avoiding other people than focussing on my technique etc, so the first lap wasn't particularly great.
We then got to the Australian exit, a quick out, round some cones, and straight back in. It was even more grim second time round, with all of the crap at the bottom of the reservoir having been churned up. The smell was almost enough to make me gag. It eased up a bit after the first 50m or so of the second lap, and it was at about that point that I also managed to find myself some space. This allowed me to focus on my technique, and trying to get on to people's feet to save some energy, which seemed to work a lot better. I exited the swim feeling pretty good, and in a PB time of just outside 37 mins. Result.
T1 was a challenge, with incredibly cold hands, and a new wetsuit that I hadn't practiced taking off at speed. As such, I was over 2 mins in T1, which wasn't ideal, but far from disastrous.
I got out on to the bike, and really quickly found my rhythm. It was immediately evident, however, that the bike was going to be equally congested as the swim. This was the only part of the day that let it down at all. The bike course is really nice, through rolling countryside, and a series of out and backs, so you can keep an eye on what's going on up ahead. However, this - along with the sheer number of riders - led to it feeling pretty dangerous at times, as it wasn't a closed road event. There were parts where cyclists were 2 or 3 deep on both sides of the roads, with several cars, horse transporters etc trying to pass. For a national champs, with that many entrants, it surely has to be closed roads. I appreciate that has cost/viability implications, but safety has to come first.
The first 5 miles of the bike were pretty slow for me, and I also didn't take any fluids on during this time, as I was focussing more on making my way through the crowds, whilst avoiding the other cyclists coming in the opposite direction. By the time I realised that I hadn't taken any fluids on, I had made my way past the first of several pelotons that formed on the day, and I didn't want to break my rhythm (or my TT position) as I went about my challenge of closing the gap on those ahead of me. This was a grave mistake that was repeated on many occasions. In fact, throughout the whole of the bike leg, I only drank one 750ml bottle, despite having another bottle on my bike the whole time, and water/HIgh5 being readily available at the two aid stations on the course.
I really started to feel this during the last 10 miles. The course couldn't be called hilly at all, but there were a few 'rolls' to it. In the final 10 miles, any kind of uphill gradient felt like much more of a slog than in should have done. This was particularly clear on the final 'climb' of the day, in between Great Staughton and Perry. I distinctly remember last year dancing up that climb, gliding past about a dozen other riders as I did so. This year, it was a real slog, and it was me that was passed by a number of riders in the final couple of miles.
It was only really when I got in to T2 that I realised the mistake I had made - I had been so focussed on the ride that it hadn't really crossed my mind. I knew that I had blown my chances of a really decent result overall - having taken 2:37 for the bike, when I should have been 10 mins+ faster than that - so impulsively decided that I wasn't going to go full pelt on the run. I guzzled the other bottle I had on the bike - literally the whole 750ml - popped my shoes on, said a few words to Aleiah and my mum, and set out on the run
With 750ml fluid sloshing around in my stomach, the first part of the run wasn't particularly pleasant, and something was also rubbing in my right shoe. I decided to push through it until I got back to the transition area (the run was also a series of out and backs), where I'd stop at the aid station, sort my shoe out, and have another quick chat with the support crew. They were encouraging me to keep pushing, but I stubbornly insisted that I had ballsed it up, so I wasn't really going to bother.
I set off again, finding a pace that I felt comfortable with, and just focussed on enjoying it - it was a glorious day, after all. I wasn't the only one planning on enjoying the sun, though. There seemed to be some kind of midge festival going on. There were absolutely thousands of them. At times it was near impossible to run through the swarms, certainly not without inhaling a few. At least I know I'll have hit my protein macro for the day!
I continued around the rest of the run, stopping at each aid station to take fluid on and pour some over my head, and before I knew it, I had finished. The run course here is great - aside from the fact that there were some issues with a local caravan park, where everyone tried leaving/arriving at the same time! - really interesting, and the fact that it is two laps of two out and backs makes it really easy to break down in to small segments; really makes it fly by. My run time was 1:27, which I couldn't quite believe (even though I think the course is a few hundred metres short) given the amount of times I'd stopped, and how I hadn't really been pushing.
Overall, my time was 4:47, 6 minutes slower than last year, 17th in my AG and 85th overall, but only 9 mins off top 10/50. On seeing that, I immediately regretted having been so stubborn and not pushing the run, and sauntering through T2. I probably could have beaten 4:41 if I hadn't. That top 10 is also well within grasp if I can cut out all of the silly mistakes.
So, whilst there were several negatives to this, there were also a number of positives. Yes I made mistakes, but they're all ones that I can easily identify/rectify. My next 70.3 race isn't until the end of August, so I have plenty of time to work on those, as well as further improving my swim and bike (if I'm being honest with myself, I haven't done enough quality work on the bike yet this year) and get closer to that AG qualification criteria.
You live and learn.
After a good early start to the year running-wise, this was my first tri of the year. I was feeling pretty race-confident after some great recent results (3rd at the Royal Berks 10k, and 10th at Brighton Marathon - which I still can't quite get over!), but had been feeling a couple of minor niggles in the few days leading up to this.
I woke up on race morning, however, feeling pretty good - probably a bit too good, as it made me a bit too relaxed as I was getting everything packed up, meaning that we didn't set off until 20 minutes later than I had initially intended. Nevermind, still plenty of time. Or so I thought.
We arrived at Grafham Water, which always brings a sense of nostalgia to me - it was often a venue for Sunday afternoon family rides in the summer when I was growing up - and found the organisation to be as good as I remember from last year's event. Having been shown to a parking space, I made a beeline for registration, thinking that there may have been a queue, and I didn't want that to hold me up. But no queue - I picked up my pack straight away, and everything was still feeling really relaxed.
Then it started to go a little bit awry.
I faffed about too much sorting my bike out, and somehow managed to misplace the sticker that needed to go on my helmet. Mild panic ensued, as we frantically searched every crevice within the car looking for the absent sticker. Every crevice apart from the boot, as I was insistent that I hadn't had the boot open. After 5 minutes of searching, Aleiah decided to look in the boot, just in case. Lo and behold, there it was. Cue me looking very sheepish, and taking plenty of stick!
En route to transition, I felt nature's calling, so I decided to head to the toilet before transition. There was a substantial queue for the portaloos, but having a bit of local knowledge, I thought I would outsmart everyone by heading to some permanent toilets tucked around the back of the cafe. Surely there wouldn't be a queue there... Wrong. After waiting there for a few minutes without moving, I decided to cut my losses and head back to the portaloos.
By the time I was done, I had under 10 minutes before transition closed. I just about managed to get everything sorted before the marshals started turfing everyone out, though in the rush I had forgotten to pick up a bottle that I intended to leave in transition, to swig in T1, then take with me out of T2 on to the run. This was to be my first major mistake.
By this point, everyone was being called down to the reservoir's edge for race briefing and start, but I realised as I was about to get in to my wetsuit that I had left my goggles in another bag in the car. A quick sprint there and back (my warm up??) and I just about had time to squeeze myself in to the wetsuit and get down to the start with about 2 minutes to spare. No opportunity to 'test the water', or get a proper warm up done. Balls.
A rolling start was employed for the swim, so I positioned myself towards the front of the 35-39 minute zone, hoping that some of the marginally faster swimmers might drag me to a better time. The first thing that really struck me, and kind of caught me off guard, was the lack of urgency of everyone entering the water - there was no sprinting and diving in, it was all a bit reminiscent of heading for a paddle on the beach, when you just want to get your feet/ankles wet.
Eventually we were in and swimming properly, and it was pretty grim, and bloody cold. Next to no visibility and 14 degrees. Just. My open water swimming so far has been at a much more pleasant 17/18 in relatively clear (but weedy) waters. I quickly got over the shock of the cold, and the horrid smell/taste of the water, and started trying to find my rhythm, which was easier said than done, as it was so busy. As a result, I found myself more concerned about avoiding other people than focussing on my technique etc, so the first lap wasn't particularly great.
We then got to the Australian exit, a quick out, round some cones, and straight back in. It was even more grim second time round, with all of the crap at the bottom of the reservoir having been churned up. The smell was almost enough to make me gag. It eased up a bit after the first 50m or so of the second lap, and it was at about that point that I also managed to find myself some space. This allowed me to focus on my technique, and trying to get on to people's feet to save some energy, which seemed to work a lot better. I exited the swim feeling pretty good, and in a PB time of just outside 37 mins. Result.
T1 was a challenge, with incredibly cold hands, and a new wetsuit that I hadn't practiced taking off at speed. As such, I was over 2 mins in T1, which wasn't ideal, but far from disastrous.
I got out on to the bike, and really quickly found my rhythm. It was immediately evident, however, that the bike was going to be equally congested as the swim. This was the only part of the day that let it down at all. The bike course is really nice, through rolling countryside, and a series of out and backs, so you can keep an eye on what's going on up ahead. However, this - along with the sheer number of riders - led to it feeling pretty dangerous at times, as it wasn't a closed road event. There were parts where cyclists were 2 or 3 deep on both sides of the roads, with several cars, horse transporters etc trying to pass. For a national champs, with that many entrants, it surely has to be closed roads. I appreciate that has cost/viability implications, but safety has to come first.
The first 5 miles of the bike were pretty slow for me, and I also didn't take any fluids on during this time, as I was focussing more on making my way through the crowds, whilst avoiding the other cyclists coming in the opposite direction. By the time I realised that I hadn't taken any fluids on, I had made my way past the first of several pelotons that formed on the day, and I didn't want to break my rhythm (or my TT position) as I went about my challenge of closing the gap on those ahead of me. This was a grave mistake that was repeated on many occasions. In fact, throughout the whole of the bike leg, I only drank one 750ml bottle, despite having another bottle on my bike the whole time, and water/HIgh5 being readily available at the two aid stations on the course.
I really started to feel this during the last 10 miles. The course couldn't be called hilly at all, but there were a few 'rolls' to it. In the final 10 miles, any kind of uphill gradient felt like much more of a slog than in should have done. This was particularly clear on the final 'climb' of the day, in between Great Staughton and Perry. I distinctly remember last year dancing up that climb, gliding past about a dozen other riders as I did so. This year, it was a real slog, and it was me that was passed by a number of riders in the final couple of miles.
It was only really when I got in to T2 that I realised the mistake I had made - I had been so focussed on the ride that it hadn't really crossed my mind. I knew that I had blown my chances of a really decent result overall - having taken 2:37 for the bike, when I should have been 10 mins+ faster than that - so impulsively decided that I wasn't going to go full pelt on the run. I guzzled the other bottle I had on the bike - literally the whole 750ml - popped my shoes on, said a few words to Aleiah and my mum, and set out on the run
With 750ml fluid sloshing around in my stomach, the first part of the run wasn't particularly pleasant, and something was also rubbing in my right shoe. I decided to push through it until I got back to the transition area (the run was also a series of out and backs), where I'd stop at the aid station, sort my shoe out, and have another quick chat with the support crew. They were encouraging me to keep pushing, but I stubbornly insisted that I had ballsed it up, so I wasn't really going to bother.
I set off again, finding a pace that I felt comfortable with, and just focussed on enjoying it - it was a glorious day, after all. I wasn't the only one planning on enjoying the sun, though. There seemed to be some kind of midge festival going on. There were absolutely thousands of them. At times it was near impossible to run through the swarms, certainly not without inhaling a few. At least I know I'll have hit my protein macro for the day!
I continued around the rest of the run, stopping at each aid station to take fluid on and pour some over my head, and before I knew it, I had finished. The run course here is great - aside from the fact that there were some issues with a local caravan park, where everyone tried leaving/arriving at the same time! - really interesting, and the fact that it is two laps of two out and backs makes it really easy to break down in to small segments; really makes it fly by. My run time was 1:27, which I couldn't quite believe (even though I think the course is a few hundred metres short) given the amount of times I'd stopped, and how I hadn't really been pushing.
Overall, my time was 4:47, 6 minutes slower than last year, 17th in my AG and 85th overall, but only 9 mins off top 10/50. On seeing that, I immediately regretted having been so stubborn and not pushing the run, and sauntering through T2. I probably could have beaten 4:41 if I hadn't. That top 10 is also well within grasp if I can cut out all of the silly mistakes.
So, whilst there were several negatives to this, there were also a number of positives. Yes I made mistakes, but they're all ones that I can easily identify/rectify. My next 70.3 race isn't until the end of August, so I have plenty of time to work on those, as well as further improving my swim and bike (if I'm being honest with myself, I haven't done enough quality work on the bike yet this year) and get closer to that AG qualification criteria.
You live and learn.